MT. MORRIS – From no place to call their own to constructing a third home. From standing-room only to taking out loans to pay bills to somewhere in between. From in-person services to online ones – and then onto a hybrid approach.

Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church’s congregation has experienced many ups and downs in its 175-year history, said the Rev. Josh Ehrler, who began leading Trinity in August 2013.

“I’ll leave it to the Holy Spirit to kind of floor us again, but we have experienced some incredible highs and incredible lows, and we made it through all of them,” Ehrler said.

It’s a history worth celebrating – and that’s exactly what the Mt. Morris-based congregation plans to do.

Trinity is hosting a party at the Campus Square in downtown Mt. Morris on Saturday, Aug. 14. Everyone is invited, member of the church or not.

“Trinity would not exist without Mt. Morris,” Ehrler said. “It only made sense to us that, if we’re going to celebrate our history, then part of that is celebrating our neighbors and giving thanks for this community that we’ve called home all these years.”

Local bluegrass band Grass Attack will play a free concert from 7-9 p.m., and an ice cream social and offerings from Ogle County Pork Producers will be available from 6-7:30 p.m. The party is presented in cooperation with The National Straw Sculpting Competition.

This isn’t a fundraiser, Ehrler emphasized. It’s just a party – hopefully a fun one – with the concert at its heart.

“[It’s] just an opportunity for people to hang out on a hopefully not too hot summer night and get some music and do a little dancing and just fellowship with each other,” he said.

Engaging the whole community – without a sales pitch attached – is nothing new to Trinity. Many of the church’s programs, ministries and educational opportunities are open to the general public.

A prime example is the summer lunch program, which is a partnership with the Northern Illinois Food Bank to provide daily meals to those 18 and under, Ehrler said. Out of that program grew another: two partnerships with the University of Illinois-Extension.

In the first, Extension staff come to Trinity and offer an “outdoorsy physical activity” one day a week. The other is a junior chef program, where kids can learn how to prepare meals in Trinity’s commercially-licensed kitchen.

Then there’s Strong Girls 2 Women, or #SG2W, an outdoor girls’ empowerment camp for fourth- to sixth-graders. This year, 24 girls participated in the summer program.

Those kinds of programs are part of what drew Connie Seavey to Trinity. The Franklin Grove resident joined the church in June.

“[Ehrler] makes no bones about it that this little church in Mt. Morris is not just called upon to come to church on Sunday and worship and feel good and that would be the end of it. No, no, no,” Seavey said. “We are part of our church community, but we are part of the [Mt. Morris] community and the surrounding communities. We’re a part of the Northern Illinois Synod, and we’re part of the church at large.”

The community outreach efforts are something the congregation has managed to modify and expand in recent years, said Rob Urish, a church council member.

“Back in the day, as they say – and I’m thinking back in the ‘50s and ‘60s – my recollection is that the church was more inner-focused, that we didn’t reach out to the community,” said Urish, who joined Trinity 75 years ago at age 2.

Inwardly, Urish is quite proud of the current efforts.

“I feel like we’re fulfilling the call that Christ has challenged us with to attend to the needs of the impoverished, the needy – whether it’s financial or social or emotional,” he said.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced church leaders to quickly find creative ways to continue their programs and worship services, Ehrler said. They took it as an opportunity to reconsider what worship looks like and means.

The congregation’s general willingness to change and grow is what helps keep Trinity thriving, he said. One of their core values is being open to experiencing new perspectives and to creating new opportunities.

“Just about everything that we can put on the table is up for evaluation,” Ehrler said. “To question it, to say, ‘Is this still the way we want to do it?’ And, if it needs to be changed, then we change it to adjust to the needs of our community, the needs of the people who are worshipping here.”

The history of Trinity

Founded in 1846 by the Rev. Nicholas J. Stroh, Trinity originally was known as First Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mt. Morris, according to church records. The name changed in 1921 when the church was incorporated.

The church fully was organized March 13, 1853, with 28 charter members signing the constitution.

Membership has fluctuated over the years, ranging from 125 in 1880 to 727 in 1966. In 2003, the average weekly attendance was 179. By 2018, it had dropped to 89.

Trinity’s first church services were held in the chapel of Rock River Seminary – a Methodist institution – but conflicts in its use prompted the congregation to instead gather at a school a few miles east of Mt. Morris, the records show. When a school was built in the village, services moved there and remained for several years.

On May 2, 1856, a dedication was held for Trinity’s first church building, located at the corner of what now is South Ogle Avenue and East Center Street. Construction took three years, and the building’s cost was approximately $3,000.

The church’s second building – dedicated Nov. 10, 1878 – was at the corner of South Seminary Avenue and West Main Street. It cost $7,088, including furnishings.

The congregation’s third and current home – built at a cost of $350,000 – is at 308 East Brayton Road. The first services were held in May 1952, and it was dedicated Sept. 7, 1952.